


The Exodus of the Ashlanders

by Veritara



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Genre: Ashlanders - Freeform, Dark Elves, Dunmer - Freeform, Gen, Lore Book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-21 01:52:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16150058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veritara/pseuds/Veritara
Summary: Written in the style of in-game lore books of The Elder Scrolls games, a former member of House Redoran tells the story of how the Ashlanders escaped Red Mountain's wrath after the events of the Nerevarine.





	The Exodus of the Ashlanders

 

Every nation has those who refuse to confirm to the standards of what the cosmopolitan call “progress”. As years wear on, they’re called savage, brutal, and uncivilized. Most peoples fight or hold uncomfortable truces with their natives, but few have the revelations the Dunmer had with the people of the Ash Wastes, known collectively as Ashlanders.

Staunchly proud and isolationist, the four tribes of native Ashlanders held true to the original lifestyle the Dunmer led when they first settled Morrowind, when we were called the Velothi people. However, living in temporary huts with dirt floors, following the herds and seasonal changes, answering to tribal hierarchy and worshipping the Daedra didn’t appeal to those of the Great Houses, who preferred stone homes and stable living conditions. Under the influence of the False Tribunal, the Ashlanders lived a harsh life of prosecution, who deemed their Daedric worship and belief in the coming of the Nerevarine as heretical and savage.

In the last years of the Third Era, the Nerevarine came, fell the Tribunal, and opened the our eyes to the truth of lordship of the Good Daedra. In the confusing years as the Temple made the transition, it was not uncommon to hear of people of all stripes and creeds making the pilgrimage out into the Ash Wastes to speak to the Wise Women, the unbroken line of priestesses and prophetesses of Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala. There, the Wise Women opened the eyes of us House People and the Ashlanders enjoyed a welcome revival in greater mainstream Dunmeri culture, as the keepers and preservers of the ancient Velothi traditions.

It was shortly after the celebrations of the destruction of the Oblivion Gates when I first heard of the Ashlanders packing up camp. Since they followed the whims and movements of wild herds, it wasn’t unusual, but all the tribes gathered together in the heart of Vvardenfell. Even with the newfound love of the Ashlanders, even the Redoran Council were tempted to drive off the small, smelly city of yurts and huts that popped up outside Ald’ruhn. But, rather than gathered for a celebration, the talk among the natives was serious.

I was just a scribe for a Redoran Councillor back then. He led me to the Ashkhans’ hut, where we paid proper respects. The bewildered Dunmer asked what was happening, careful to not offend the proud elves, but the only answer he received was, “We will be leaving shortly, no need to worry. If you are a true follower of Azura, you may heed her warnings and travel with us.” The deep, gravelly voice haunted me for weeks after. I watched several good elves walk down to the same yurt I had and many left just as bewildered as I and the Councillor had, but others returned that night with a knapsack or cart packed with all their worldly belongings.

It was due to my wife’s incessant feeling that Something was about to happen and the Ashlanders had the right of it that we took our newborn son and as much of our home as we could and joined the Ashlanders, who were only too pleased to have more city-dwellers join them.

That night, we marched West. For days, every step filled me with guilt and the only thing that could ease it was my wife’s peaceful face, full of belief in our new gods. It took a week to march to the edge of the Inner Sea, another two days to ferry over all the Ashlanders and House People in the few boats we had. We made it to the base of the Velothi Mountains when the Wise Women declared that here was where we would make camp. A few days of hunting, trading in the nearby villages, and uneasy prayer passed. Some of the others told me they had received visions from Azura, of fire and death, while others had only the same inkling my wife had that Something dire was about to happen. No one, not even the Wise Women quite knew what but they knew this place was safe.

On the sixth day, the guars were spooked and the land grew deathly silent. Many words have been written on the destruction of Vivec’s City and the resulting eruption of Red Mountain. It rumbled the snow of the Velothis and shook the snow from the trees, but the destruction shattered whatever was left of the world of the Dunmer.

The Ashlanders made the House People who had followed and stayed so far “clanfriends”, our children and grandchildren assimilating fully into the tribes if they so desired. Many of the House People left, thankful for the protection and the faith of the Ashlanders, but others, including my wife, our son, and I, stayed. Together, we weathered the storms of the Red Year and the Argonian Invasion, settling along the foothills of the Velothi Mountains and following the rhythms of the land, finding peace with the Good Daedra and the purity of life away from House politics.


End file.
